Monday November 5, 4:48 AM

Angry rider causes U.S. bus crash

PHOENIX (Reuters) - A struggle between an angry passenger and a Greyhound bus driver in southern Arizona early on Sunday forced the vehicle to topple onto its side, injuring about 30 people on board, authorities said.

The man apparently grabbed the steering wheel as the vehicle was travelling eastbound at about 1 a.m. (3 a.m. EST) on Interstate 10, causing the bus to veer on and off the roadway and then tip over, said Officer Hyrum D'Addabbo, a state Department of Public Safety spokesman.

No one is believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries in the accident near Casa Grande, Arizona, about 50 miles south of Phoenix. The injured where taken to area hospitals.

The passenger involved in the struggle with the driver was taken into custody. His identity has not been released.

Early reports suggest the argument started when the passenger was told to extinguish his cigarette because there was no smoking on the bus, D'Addabbo said.

"I guess he didn't want to give up his smoke," he said.

The bus, carrying 37 passengers and the driver, was enroute from Los Angeles to Miami, said Lynn Brown, a spokeswoman for the Dallas-based bus operator. She said it occurred during the Phoenix to El Paso leg of the trip.

"It's clearly an isolated incident involving a single unruly individual," Brown said.

She said an emergency operations centre has been set up in Dallas to assist the families and friends of those involved in the accident.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001